1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hoist support apparatus for mounting various hoists thereto, the apparatus being quickly and removably attachable to an existing external stores support system found on a helicopter.
2. Background of the Prior Art
The use of helicopters for hoisting cargo into or out of the aircraft has been well known for a long time. The helicopter, by being able to fly over areas that may be impossible to reach by land or water vehicles, can reach areas that may be otherwise inaccessible. By being able to hover in place, the helicopter can remain relatively stationary and either hoist cargo, such as relief supplies, from the aircraft, or hoist victims up into the aircraft. The helicopter has proved it is an invaluable tool in many disasters both large and small.
However, the hoist systems known in the art suffer from certain shortcomings. Many hoist systems are mounted within the interior cabin of the aircraft taking up valuable real estate therein, thereby limiting the cargo or passengers that can be ferried as well as creating an obstruction within the aircraft for helicopter personnel. Many hoist systems are relatively permanent in their helicopter installation so that the real estate reduction and obstruction occasioned by the hoist system occurs irrespective of whether or not the helicopter is on a hoist requiring supply or rescue mission.
To lessen the impact of such internally mounted hoist systems, devices have been designed that allow the hoist system to pivot or otherwise fold up in order to reduce the space impact of the hoist system. While freeing up room in the aircraft and lessening the obstruction impact, such devices add substantial weight to the aircraft, limiting the helicopter's ability to transport cargo or passengers.
Other devices are relatively lightweight yet require substantial time and effort of up to thirty days to install the device onto the aircraft, including the need to perform permanent modifications to the original airframe, which modifications need to be performed by specialized personal. As has been recently seen in overwhelming natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina and the Asian Tsunami, the need to modify a large number of helicopters by a limited number of capable personal, dampened the availability of hoist capable helicopters onsite in the unfolding hours and days of the disasters. These delays had a substantial adverse effect on the rescue effort.
As a result, national interests, both civilian and military, have paid greater focus on acquiring larger numbers of hoist capable helicopters, yet such interests are finding the drawbacks associated with current helicopter hoist mount systems to be a daunting challenge.
What is needed is a device that can mount a hoist to a helicopter, which device overcomes the above mentioned shortcoming found in the art. Specifically, the mount system must be able to attach a wide variety of available hoists to the aircraft without the need to make major permanent changes to the airframe of the helicopter. Such a device must be able to be mounted to the helicopter quickly and easily without the need for highly specialized technicians to perform the installation. Such a device must not take away valuable real estate within the aircraft and must not create an undue obstruction burden. Ideally, such a device is relatively lightweight so that the aircraft can carry its typical payload.